The Grand Highway

As a genre, I love the so-called "coming-of-age" movies. This one, even though it's French, is one I watch over and over again since I bought the VHS tape. I don't know why it's not available on DVD in the United States,; I know that it is available in Europe. The little girl in the movie is the perfect little tomboy, and has loads to teach her summer friend about life. It's based in the 50s when worldly kids were actually kind of rare. Then there's the heartbreaking sub-story of a childless couple who haven't been intimate in years due to the loss of their own child. Louis gives them both the kind of love they've never known, and they realize what's been missing in their lives. It's just a beautiful story, and I would love for this film to be re-introduced in the United States for a new generation to discover and enjoy. There was an American remake done in the early nineties, but it sucked royally compared to the original French film.

What a delight! This sensitive drama is about as realistic as a film can be, and it enters your heart without being overly sentimental or harsh. See it with a caring, thoughtful, compassionate spirit, and prepare to settle in for film making at its best.

I remember of "Le grand Chemin", as if i were there in this movie as in my own life in a different period. As if little things of life which can be worthless for grow up can be very important to children, for lifetime . I remember Vanessa Guedj who i miss and who i do not see anymore actually. I remember of this atmosphere where untold stories are more painful than the words. I remember the childhood universe that we are building to "go away", i remember that a whole lifetime does not matter, that everything is done and that the bad part of it can finally be the good part of life. (sorry for my English). is n't this any lines ? Now it's OK so...

An uplifting and disturbing film. A heady mixture of innocence and sensuality. Maybe it was the person that I saw this film with, but it showed the sort of summer I (and she) would dearly love to have experienced. If you follow enough French, see it in the original.

A really superior film, this story of a 9 year-old boy leaving his mother temporarily to live in a small French town. He becomes educated to the ways of adults with the help of a worldy-wise girl aged 10. Although children are featured, this definitely is an adult movie, not one for small children.